... Jr. (born 1904), by his wife Hattie, and William Rexford Fields Morris (born 1917), by his girlfriend Bessie Poole. [86] Although his radio work was not as demanding as motion-picture production, Fields insisted on his established movie star salary of $5,000 per week. [31] His stage commitments prevented him from doing more movie work until 1924, when he played a supporting role in Janice Meredith, a Revolutionary War romance starring Marion Davies. [82] He was fond of entertaining the children of friends who visited him, and doted on his first grandchild, Bill Fields III, born in 1943. Read 16 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. In 1906 maakte hij zijn debuut op Broadway in de komedie The Ham Tree.Zoals veel vaudevilleacteurs werkte Fields in de stomme film, maar bekend werd hij met de geluidsfilm Poppy uit 1923. with him. WC Fields Amazing Juggling. The act was a success, and Fields starred in the Follies from 1916 to 1922, not as a juggler but as a comedian in ensemble sketches. [67], While performing in New York City at the New Amsterdam Theater in 1916, Fields met Bessie Poole, an established Ziegfeld Follies performer whose beauty and quick wit attracted him, and they began a relationship. tuxedo with tight satin pants. Equally memorable was a line in the 1940 film My Little Chickadee: "Once, on a trek through Afghanistan, we lost our corkscrew ... and were compelled to live on food and water for several days." Eric Grayson's virtual Vintage Movie Night features W.C. Fields this Saturday, Feburary 20, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. Juggling to Stardom. [57] The total number of sketches created by Fields over the years, both copyrighted and uncopyrighted, remains undetermined. You can join by sending $15 to W. C Fields Fan Club, PO Box 506, Stratford, NJ 08084-0506. Paul was amused, and named his new machine OCT, short for octopus. [75] Monti had small roles in two of Fields' films, and in 1971 wrote a memoir, W.C. Fields and Me, which was made into a motion picture at Universal Studios in 1976. Fields was born William Claude Dukenfield in Darby, Pennsylvania, the oldest child of a working-class family. [74], Fields met Carlotta Monti (1907–1993) in 1933, and the two began a sporadic relationship that lasted until his death in 1946. Only after he became a Follies star and abandoned juggling did Fields begin drinking regularly. This is an article on Fields' attitude to stealing material from other performers, including an ad he placed in Variety to attempt to protect a bit of his 'business'. LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16— W. Claude Fields Jr., lawyer and a son of the late W. C. Fields, died today in St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica. Stick,BKO 2019 FS Rob V,BKO 2019 FS Harv V,BKO 2019 FS Tom … It was here that he met his future wife, Hattie, who assisted He ran away from home repeatedly, beginning at the age of nine, often to stay with his grandmother or an uncle. His first feature for Universal, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, carried on the Fields–McCarthy rivalry. However, it is in the field of comedy that he made his greatest The arguments between Fields and Leisen were so constant and intense during the five-month shoot that when the production concluded on November 15, 1937, Leisen went home and had a heart attack.[50]. The United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp on the comedian's 100th birthday, in January 1980.[127]. Reproduced p. 29, Louvish. The number, however, may exceed 100. hand and waving a third ball behind his back with the other hand. London from Black and White Budget, March 16th, 1901, including In an unusual twist, Fields plays the roles of two nearly identical brothers (T. Frothingill Bellows and S. B. Bellow) and collaborated with several noted international musicians of the time including: Kirsten Flagstad (Norwegian opera soprano), Wilfred Pelletier (Canadian conductor of New York's Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), Tito Guizar (Mexican vocalist), Shep Fields (conducting his Rippling Rhythm Jazz Orchestra) and John Serry Sr. (Italian-American orchestral accordionist)[48] The film received critical acclaim and earned an Oscar in 1939 for best music in an original song – Thanks for the Memory[49] Fields, however, loathed working on the film and particularly detested the director, Mitchell Leisen, who felt the same way about Fields and thought him unfunny and difficult. Fields is one of the figures that appears in the crowd scene on the cover of The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. His familiar, snide drawl registered so well with listeners that he quickly became a popular guest on network radio shows. Here is a review of Fields' first appearance in [13] At age 17, he was living with his family and performing a juggling act at church and theater shows. [65] They never divorced. The scene was snipped out of the picture. [111] He delighted in provoking the censors with double entendres and the near-profanities "Godfrey Daniels" and "mother of pearl". The Firesign Theatre titled the second track of their 1968 album Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him "W.C. Fields Forever", as a pun referring to the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever". Fields' last radio appearance was on March 24, 1946, on the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show on NBC. Fields was enthusiastic about the role, but ultimately withdrew his name from consideration so he could devote his time to writing You Can't Cheat an Honest Man.[121]. [81] The line—which Bartlett's Familiar Quotations later erroneously attributed to Fields himself—was widely quoted, and reinforced the popular perception that Fields hated children and dogs. "[26] In 1913 he performed on a bill with Sarah Bernhardt (who regarded Fields as "an artiste [who] could not fail to please the best class of audience") first at the New York Palace, and then in England in a royal performance for George V and Queen Mary. [77] Studio publicists promoted this image, as did Fields himself in press interviews. Comedy - History - Actual TV - Balls. [68][69][70] Neither Fields nor Poole wanted to abandon touring to raise the child, who was placed in foster care with a childless couple of Bessie's acquaintance. Comedian" published in Theatre Magazine in October 1928. CCC – Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Juggling and Circus Club; Archive for the ‘WC Fields’ Category. FIELDS JUGGLED BALLS BEFORE HE PLAYED WITH LAUGHS! Clip from Her Majesty Love hollywood United States. During his absence, he recorded a brief speech for a radio broadcast. Universal's then-popular singing star Gloria Jean played opposite Fields, and his cronies Leon Errol and Franklin Pangborn as his comic foils. Jan Duggan, an old-maid character (actually about Fields' age). ), Donald W. McCaffrey, "The Latter-Day Falstaff" from. His final fourteen years were spent living with Carlotta Monti. Here is an article on Fields as a juggler by W. C. Fields (with John T. Neville, et al. Bill Wolfe, as a gaunt-looking character, usually a Fields foil, Fields is among the many celebrities caricatured in the 1936, Fields is seen sitting on the spectators' bench in the Disney cartoon, He appears as W.C. Fieldmouse in the Merrie Melodies short, Actor Bob Leeman portrayed Fields in the 1991 movie. This week I’ve got another of the multi-coloured posters from the Sunderland Empire featuring a big star, W.C. Fields who … After Fields returned from the road, they discovered they'd grown apart, but Hattie wouldn't give him a divorce, and when Fields refused to "find a regular job", she began badmouthing him to their young son, William Jr.. Be that as it may, it is clear that by 1899 he was working at Fortesque's On movie sets, Fields shot most of his scenes in varying states of inebriation. [61] Under her influence, he became an enthusiastic reader and traveled with a trunk of books including grammar texts, translations of Homer and Ovid, and works by authors ranging from Shakespeare to Dickens to Twain and P. G. She drove me to drink. Having grown up in a family of seven with a father he routinely butted heads with, he also knew how to stand out in a crowd. [42] Nevertheless, the popular success of his next release, International House in 1933, established him as a major star. [112], In several of his films, he played hustlers, carnival barkers, and card sharps, spinning yarns and distracting his marks. [124] In 1973, the comedian's grandson, Ronald J. On the basis of his work in that film and Griffith's subsequent production That Royle Girl, Paramount offered Fields a contract to star in his own series of feature-length comedies. wcfields - balls - party 2009-05-27 01:23 6938 Short scene including a brief segment of W. C. Fields' cigar box routine, from the 1925 film Sally Of The Sawdust. To conceal a stutter, Fields did not speak onstage. London, review of Fields' [15], In 1904 Fields' father visited him for two months in England while he was performing there in music halls. Warehouse 13 Season 3 - Artifact Card - W.C. Fields Juggling Balls - A-37 - Card # 186/350. Of particular interest to jugglers are a number of wonderful old photographs of Fields juggling, such as the one shown here. pictures of several of his tricks. [83] He sent encouraging replies to all of the letters he received from boys who, inspired by his performance in The Old Fashioned Way, expressed an interest in juggling. The article shows Here is an illustration of some of the By the time he entered motion pictures, his relationship with his estranged wife had become acrimonious, and he believed she had turned their son Claude—whom he seldom saw—against him. it on his assistant, or fake behind the back throws by juggling two in one Sequence with Fields cut from original release, restored for home video. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook. ", "W. C. Fields' Widow Wins – Entitled to Half $771,000, Though Long Estranged, Judge Rules", "Son of W. C. Fields Toasts Him in Tea – Comic's Namesake, Here for Festival, Is a Teetotaler", "Final Tribute to William Rexford Fields Morris: 1917–2014", "An Interview with WC Fields' 94-year-old son", "W.C. Fields, 66, Dies; Famed as Comedian – Mimicry Star of the Films Since 1924 Got Start as a $5-a-Week Juggler – Rarely Followed Script – Raspy Remarks and 'Know-It-All' Perspective Made Him Nation-Wide Character", "Here A Comic Genius, There A Comic Genius", "Lucky Luke – Ballad of the Daltons (1978) – English 4/8", "At the Ziegfeld Follies: Various Entertainers in the Big Show, as Seen by the THEATRE MAGAZINE'S Artist", "Funnyman W. C. Fields Has His Own Way of Keeping Himself Fit", "W.C. Fields: The red-nosed, raspy-voiced funnyman, who never gave a sucker an even break, dies on Christmas Day", Criterion Collection essay by Dennis Perrin on, Chase And Sanborn Hour 1937-05-09 (01) Guest – Ann Harding, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=W._C._Fields&oldid=1007351190, Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2013, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with multiple identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Story by J.P. McEvoy and W.C. Fields; extant, Two reels; story by W.C. Fields (uncredited), Fields as contributing writer (uncredited), Original story by "Charles Bogle" (W.C. Fields), Story by "Mahatma Kane Jeeves" (W.C. Fields). His cremation, as directed in his will, was delayed pending resolution of an objection filed by Hattie and Claude Fields on religious grounds. [23] When Fields played for English-speaking audiences, he found he could get more laughs by adding muttered patter and sarcastic asides to his routines. "The Old Fashioned Way" This movie, made in 1934, features a five minute segment of Fields juggling balls, a cane and cigar boxes. He was a man of several careers: tramp juggler in vaudeville, a star in Broadway revues, a popular radio guest, and star of two separate film careers, both silent and talkie. [19] His family supported his ambitions for the stage and saw him off on the train for his first stage tour. Fields would twit Charlie about his being made of wood: Fields: "Tell me, Charles, is it true your father was a gate-leg table? A favorite bit of "business", repeated in many of his films, involved his hat going astray—either caught on the end of his cane, or simply facing the wrong way—as he attempts to put it onto his head. A photo of James in a Civil War period uniform, c. 1900, shows him missing his right index finger. Fields. Claude Shannon, the father of information theory, took an active interest in juggling. "Women are like elephants to me; I like to look at them, but I wouldn't want to own one." [105] In 1937, in an article in Motion Picture magazine, Fields analyzed the characters he played: You've heard the old legend that it's the little put-upon guy who gets the laughs, but I'm the most belligerent guy on the screen. Even if he had never made a film, W.C. Fields would have been one of the most important men in show business history. Phil Silvers, who had a minor supporting role in the scene featuring Fields, described in his memoir what happened next: One day the producers appeared on the set to plead with Fields: "Please don't drink while we're shooting—we're way behind schedule"... Fields merely raised an eyebrow. Fields. In 1932 and 1933, Fields made four short subjects for comedy pioneer Mack Sennett, distributed through Paramount Pictures. A notable guest slot was with Frank Sinatra on Sinatra's CBS radio program on February 9, 1944. Fields figured in an Orson Welles project. [78], Fields expressed his fondness for alcohol to Gloria Jean (playing his niece) in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break: "I was in love with a beautiful blonde once, dear. Louvish (U.S. edition, 1997), pp. [53] In it he strongly cautions fellow performers that all of his "acts (and businesses therein) are protected by United States and International copyright", and he stresses that he and his attorneys in New York and Chicago will "vigorously prosecute all offenders in the future". He might drop deliberately and blame [62], The couple had a son, William Claude Fields, Jr. (1904–1971)[63] and although Fields was an atheist—who, according to James Curtis, "regarded all religions with the suspicion of a seasoned con man"—he yielded to Hattie's wish to have their son baptized. [25] He later said, "I wanted to become a real comedian, and there I was, ticketed and pigeonholed as merely a comedy juggler. ", Bergen: "Why, Bill, I thought you didn't like children. During the filming of Tales of Manhattan (1942), he kept a vacuum flask with him at all times and frequently availed himself of its contents. In addition to many editions of the Follies, Fields starred in the 1923 Broadway musical comedy Poppy, wherein he perfected his persona as a colorful small-time con man. tricks in Fields' pool table routine, W. C. Fields By Himself - His Intended Autobiography. Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941) W.C. Fields as The Great Man. [76] His role in Paramount Pictures' International House (1933), as an aviator with an unquenchable taste for beer, did much to establish Fields' popular reputation as a prodigious drinker. Later he developed an [66] Their correspondence would at times be remarkably tense, however, with Fields accusing Hattie of turning their son "against" him and demanding more money from him than he could afford. [56] A few more of his copyrighted creations include "An Episode of Lawn Tennis" (1918), "The Mountain Sweep Steaks" (1919), "The Pullman Sleeper" (1921), "Ten Thousand People Killed" (1925), and "The Midget Car" (1930). [13], Fields later embellished stories of his childhood, depicting himself as a runaway who lived by his wits on the streets of Philadelphia from an early age, but his home life is believed to have been reasonably happy. Fields continued personally and with legal counsel to protect his comedy material during the final decades of his career, especially with regard to that material's reuse in his films. With rhinophyma, the nose is bulbous, enlarged and red and there may also be thick bumps on the lower half of the nose and nearby on the cheeks. By the early 1900s, while touring, he was regularly called the world's greatest juggler. He therefore gave his birthdate as April 9, 1879, and often used this date thereafter. [11] In 1893, he worked briefly at the Strawbridge and Clothier department store,[12] and in an oyster house. The Surrealists loved Fields' absurdism and anarchistic pranks. William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. With her he had another son, named William Rexford Fields Morris (1917–2014). Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Higgins, This page was last edited on 17 February 2021, at 18:02. [125], According to Woody Allen (in a New York Times interview from January 30, 2000), Fields is one of six "genuine comic geniuses" he recognized as such in movie history, along with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Groucho and Harpo Marx, and Peter Sellers.[126]. The classic eleven box stack is reversed out of his profile, with his three names taking the place of three cigar boxes. Like a guy with a million hands. [21] He manipulated cigar boxes, hats, and other objects in his act, parts of which are reproduced in some of his films, notably in the 1934 comedy The Old Fashioned Way. Fields fought with studio producers, directors, and writers over the content of his films. A Must-see! [10] At age twelve, he worked with his father selling produce from a wagon, until the two had a fight that resulted in Fields running away once again. But the one featured here is his work with cigar boxes. [84], In 1936, Fields' heavy drinking precipitated a significant decline in his health. [44], Fields' 1934 classic It's a Gift includes another one of his earlier stage sketches, one in which he endeavors to escape his nagging family by sleeping on the back porch, where he is bedeviled by noisy neighbors and salesmen. Fields never drank in his early career as a juggler because he wanted to be sober while performing. It is recorded that he went abroad and performed juggling acts in Europe, Asia, South Africa, Australia and even at Pago Pago in the South Sea Islands. includes a biography and descriptions of some of his tricks, and is I'm going to kill everybody. [98] This poignant depiction is uncorroborated and "unlikely", according to biographer James Curtis. It was maintained by the publicity departments at Fields' studios (Paramount and Universal) and was further established by Robert Lewis Taylor's biography, W. C. Fields, His Follies and Fortunes (1949). - JTV W. C. Fields's highest grossing movies have received a lot of accolades over the years, earning millions upon millions around the world. He was in his sixties. But I got sympathy both times. W.C. Fields Juggling Leave a comment Posted by clopper on September 9, 2007 In addition to being one of screendom’s funniest comedians, Fields was also an accomplished juggler and he’s actually in the Juggler’s Hall of Fame . The creation of the W. C. Fields stamp (pictured above) is described in this article from the IJA Newsletter, March 1981. Short version of W. C. Fields' ball routine, from the 1925 film Sally Of The Sawdust. It's a little mysterious, right? However, his foray into Broadway and later into Hollywood is what made him a comedy star. He was determined to make a movie his way, with his own script and staging, and his choice of supporting players. A popular bit of Fields folklore maintains that his grave marker is inscribed, "I'd rather be in Philadelphia"—or a close variant thereof. [56] Later, 13 years after its first copyright registration, that same sketch continued to serve Fields as a framework for developing his already noted short The Dentist.

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